Gregory Tony survived Philadelphia’s slums. Will he survive the Broward sheriff’s race?

Gregory Tony’s gritty backstory of childhood perseverance in the slums of North Philadelphia was part of what intrigued Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis when he plucked the retired police sergeant out of the private sector as the replacement for suspended Broward County Sheriff Scott Israel after the Parkland school shooting.

But now that Tony must convince voters to make the same choice 16 months later, his history has rapidly turned into a liability. And it’s unclear if a man who had never previously held public office — nor weathered the scrutiny of an election — can survive a campaign in the ruthless world of Broward County politics.

A series of disclosures this week rocked Tony’s campaign for the top law enforcement job in the county: First, a local investigative website exposed that a teenage Tony killed a man in 1993 with his father’s revolver in Philadelphia. Then a British tabloid published revealing photos of the 41-year-old sheriff and his topless wife at pool parties promoted by a South Florida organization that hosts “underground erotic theme events, pool parties & group vacations for beautiful, bi-sexy women and adventurous couples.”

The combination prompted questions about the viability of the former Coral Springs police sergeant as a candidate. Tony says the killing was self-defense, and that he was acquitted in juvenile court, where records generally remain confidential. He believes any records from his case have been destroyed. His campaign, which accuses Israel of dishing negative information and coordinating with a union representing hundreds of deputies, says the years-old photos were taken before Tony was sheriff and are irrelevant to the campaign.

But his decision not to disclose the killing from 27 years ago on police application forms — including a state affidavit signed this January — is raising questions about whether he should ever have been given the job. His former boss, retired Coral Springs police chief Foster Duncan, said this week that had Tony been more forthcoming, he wouldn’t have been hired as an officer.

Back when DeSantis named Tony sheriff, he told reporters the Republican-turned-Democrat was “tailor made” for the sheriff’s job in Broward County. But the hasty selection by DeSantis means Tony hadn’t been fully vetted for political office until now — even if it’s his opponents who are doing it.

“It’s a powerful position,” said Cynthia Busch, chairwoman of the Democratic Party in Broward, where the Aug. 18 Democratic primary is likely to be the deciding contest in the race. “And if you’re going to run for it, you better be ready for everything to be thrown at you.”

The race for sheriff includes 11 candidates. And Israel is Tony’s stiffest competition, despite his removal from office. He’s a veteran of the county’s politics. If he wins another four-year term, it’ll be his third time.

A Republican-turned-Democrat like Tony, Israel lost the 2008 race for sheriff after his opponent — incumbent Sheriff Al Lamberti — turned Israel’s 10 internal affairs cases from his 25 years on the Fort Lauderdale police force (all cleared) into TV commercials.

Lamberti received help on his campaign from self-described “dirty trickster” Roger Stone. Four years later, with Lamberti mired in scandal over his agency’s ties to a Ponzi schemer, Israel hired Stone — convicted last year on charges related to the 2016 Russian elections hacking investigation — and won.

Tony’s campaign believes Israel, who became a lightning rod in the months after the Parkland shooting, is responsible for a spate of negative stories about the incumbent’s past. Tony told the Miami Herald Sunday that private investigators hired by his opponents “have been marching down the streets of Philadelphia” looking for dirt.

“There’s no doubt my political opponents are out there doing everything they can to assassinate my character,” said Tony, whose campaign has $1 million in the bank.

Opposition research is standard for well-financed, competitive campaigns. And Tony’s campaign notes that a political committee supporting Israel’s campaign paid a Hollywood-based investigations firm, Blue Line Investigative Solutions, $1,200 in February for research.

But Israel told the Miami Herald that he and his campaign had “no involvement” in leaking the story of Tony’s shooting or the racy photos of Tony and his wife. And Michael Fisten, a partner with Blue Line, said his firm “conducted opposition research for a PAC,” but was not involved in the releases, either.

“We knew there were issues in Philadelphia, but could never verify it,” Fisten said.

Opponents have been digging for dirt on Tony since he was first appointed in a highly politicized climate.

DeSantis made Tony Broward’s first black sheriff only three days after he was sworn in as governor on the heels of a campaign in which DeSantis’ African-American Democratic opponent, Andrew Gillum, attacked him frequently as appealing to racists. The pick also came less than a year after the Parkland shooting.

An investigation was still underway into BSO’s failures while responding to the school shooting, in which 17 people were killed. And Tony was friendly with some of the parents of the victims, one of whom, Andrew Pollack, recommended him to the governor.

The governor met the retired Coral Springs police sergeant in Tallahassee last year after his inauguration, sitting down with him between his son’s baptism and his inaugural ball.

Tony impressed DeSantis with a life story about leaving behind a neighborhood filled with violence and drugs for Tallahassee, where he played football for coach Bobby Bowden. DeSantis also liked that Tony had started a private business called Blue Spear Solutions, which, according to the company website, provides “state-of-the-art training and awareness related to preventative strategies and response for Active Shooter / Mass Casualty Incidents.”

On Jan. 11, 2019, DeSantis named Tony as sheriff, signing an executive order inside his SUV in Fort Lauderdale before standing with a group of Parkland families and laying out what he knew of Tony. The sheriff was hired so quickly that the state’s criminal background check wasn’t completed until the day of his appointment, according to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. The “Level I” check turned up no criminal records in Pennsylvania, according to FDLE Spokeswoman Gretl Plessinger. A National Crime Information Center check was conducted and there was no evidence of even any sealed records, she said.

Tony didn’t tell the governor about the Philadelphia shooting and avoided mention of the incident on his 2005 Coral Springs police application when asked if he’d ever been charged with a crime or arrested as a juvenile, so the governor wasn’t aware of the killing. Tony said he wasn’t required to disclose the shooting because he was tried as a juvenile and wasn’t charged or arrested under Pennsylvania’s lenient juvenile justice laws — though newspaper accounts at the time say he was initially charged with murder as an adult and held without bail after turning himself in to police.

This January, Tony also indicated on an FDLE affidavit related to his employment by the Broward Sheriff’s Office that he had no criminal records that have been sealed or expunged. Tony told the Miami Herald that juvenile cases in Pennsylvania are not considered criminal, and his campaign says a charge that leads to acquittal is not a criminal record.

The South Florida Sun Sentinel reported Wednesday that the Florida Department of Law Enforcement is reviewing a complaint that Tony lied on the form.

Tony’s personnel file for the Coral Springs Police Department also includes a letter he wrote to the chief apologizing for failing to disclose a criminal case in Leon County related to a bounced check back when he applied to become a police officer. Tony said he purchased school textbooks in 2000 from a depleted bank account and wasn’t aware a criminal case existed until it was flagged in the background search conducted by the department. A search of Leon County Clerk of Courts online records shows a 2003 criminal case related to a bounced check, for which prosecutors declined to file charges.

“At no time did I purposefully deceive you or your staff,” Tony wrote on Aug. 1, 2005.

The day Tony was sworn in, DeSantis’ press office disclosed the 2003 incident, describing it as “one bad check” and saying it “does not impact his ability to serve the families and residents of Broward County.” This week, the governor said he would still have appointed Tony if he’d known of the incident. But he also distanced himself.

“It’s not like he’s my sheriff,” DeSantis said. “I don’t even know the guy.”

As sheriff for 16 months, Tony has gained some admirers while advocating for Broward County’s black community and firing and suspending deputies accused of roughing up detainees. Tangela Sears, a black anti-gun activist and advocate for victims’ families, said the attacks against Tony are playing on his race in a Democratic primary where black voters will be crucial to the outcome of the election.

“You’ve got a black man who’s done well for himself and now all of a sudden they want him out. He’s done good. He’s an example to many other black men,” she said.

Tony’s biggest political benefactor, Democratic super-donor Donald Sussman, told the Miami Herald he remains behind the incumbent and suggested he will continue to donate to his campaign after giving Tony $500,000 late last year and another $100,000 in April.

“I will continue to support Sheriff Tony and anticipate lending further support to his campaign,” Sussman told the Miami Herald Tuesday in a statement. “The community benefits from his public service.”

Tony will likely need the campaign money to win what has already been a bruising primary.

He’s made plenty of enemies, chief among them the Broward Sheriff’s Office Deputies Association, which took a vote of no-confidence against him last month after he suspended their president, Jeff Bell. The union has accused Tony of doing too little to provide personal protective equipment to BSO employees during the coronavirus outbreak, two of whom have died.

Tony strongly disputes those accusations. Meanwhile, his campaign says Bell’s fingerprints are on the Florida Bulldog story that broke Saturday detailing Tony’s 1993 killing in Philadelphia. Bell declined to comment through an attorney.

Al Pollock, a longtime Broward Sheriff’s deputy who is also running for sheriff as a Democrat, said all the back-and-forth between the Israel and Tony campaigns is a “distraction for the men and women who work” at BSO. He said Israel’s failures as sheriff make him a bad choice, and Tony’s failures to disclose his past should have disqualified him from getting the job to replace him.

“It just goes to show you that neither one of them should be sheriff,” Pollock said. “Broward County is better than this.”